Meet the Men Who Think They Were the Cover Models for the Rolling Stones’ ‘Sticky Fingers’

The identity of the model hired by artist Andy Warhol for the Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers cover shoot has always been a mystery — and now that the album is heading back to stores in remastered and expanded form, one of rock's best-kept secrets is generating fresh speculation.

According to Glenn O’Brien, who served as the first editor for Warhol's Interview magazine, it's no mystery — he and former makeup artist Corey Tippin are the guys whose crotches received the close-up shots later used for the Sticky Fingers artwork. As O'Brien tells the New York Post, he believes he was used for the underwear shot that graced the record's inside sleeve, while Tippin posed for the jeans photo on the cover.

"I knew it was me because it was my underwear!" insisted O'Brien, who recalls standing with "my jeans down around my ankles" when some men looking for an architect's office blundered into the room. "[Warhol] just said it was for a Rolling Stones album cover. I was a huge fan, so I was pleased, and also I got paid $100. Not bad for 20 minutes’ work."

Tippin offers similar proof for his involvement, telling the Post, "I know my anatomy," and he seems perfectly okay with the conjecture that's always shrouded the cover — and always will, given that Warhol never shared the information with anyone before he died in 1987. With the benefit of hindsight, however, he thinks he might have asked for more money.

"The fact that Andy never authenticated who the model was ... I think it’s funny. I think it’s mysterious," mused Tippin. "Though had I known it was for a Stones album cover, I probably would have asked for more than $75."